Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Hoodie of Narcissitic Investment

I was that kid in the 70s who could never find her name at Wall Drug on the souvenir license plate display, nor could I ever seem to locate any 'Heather' swag at Pedro's South of the Border or any of the other tacky tourist traps my parents would never take me and my brother to (though I begged, LORD how I begged. Principles. Pfft.). If only I had been born like 12 years later, I would've had my pick of the vanity name plates, but that was just about the time Morgan and Kaitlin were setting up shop and Heather and Ashley (you know it Ashley, I know you're feeling me here) were relegated to last year's news. Oh well. At least I now have knitting to fulfill the narcissistic desire to see my name projected everywhere...Specs:Pattern: Heather Hoodie Vest from Knitscene, Fall 09Yarn: Rowan Cocoon, 7.25 skeins of #818 'Quarry Tile' FTW!Needles: Size 7 mm, because I'm special.Mods: None, except for messing up the cable repeat at several points. Also,this garment is boxy, like FLINTSTONE boxy, so if you are looking for a pattern with some waist shaping? Umm, please to keep walking.This garment is exactly what I wanted it to be: fast, comfy and warm. The Cocoon is a silky dream, although the splittiness takes a little getting used to. I would definitely buy this again--oh wait, I did! A sweater's quantity! Nevermind...This pattern represents a series of firsts for me: not only is it my first time using Rowan Cocoon and first time knitting a hood (not hard, as it turns out. But it takes foreeeveeer), it's also the first time I learned a knitting technique from someone under 12 on Youtube. Yes, I couldn't recall how to do the three-needle bind off, so luckily weird child labor laws have not prevented kids from posting diy videos. Yay kids!

That's the sort of garment I would actually be able to wear here in the Land of Eternal Summer. Hmmm...

My sister's name is Cheryl. My parents couldn't agree on a name, so they picked one neither of them liked. (Seriously. That's what they say.) Heather is a great name. I narrowly escaped being named "Fatima", so I suppose Suzanne isn't so bad, either.

I could never find Courtney either, but by the time I graduated from high school, there were hordes of little Courtneys running around. My mother-in-law buys be Courtney pencils at Walmart every fall just because she can. I love them.

Pedro's South of the Border!!!! Whoo-hoo!!!! My folks would never stop there either, but I showed them! On a youth trip we convinced our chaperones to stop there for lunch. And BOY was that a major disappointment. All those years of fantasizing about what enchantments that place must hold, and it was complete crap.

But your hoodie! That does not disappoint at all. So gorgeous, and I love that color on you.

I found an airbrushed beach scene ring tee with Heather on it once in 1982 and wore it until I went from cool to uncool to retro fabulous. But a key chain? A plastic license plate? Nope, never could find our name either.

Thank you for knitting garments with EVERY Rowan yarn I want to use, but am not quite sure HOW to use: Lima, Cocoon and now Felted Tweed. Yay!

Now, with the internet, you can special order those license plates and pencils...I did just that for my son's best friend Aviv - he is now the proud owner of a mini Oregon license plate! But, alas, back in the day, we would have had to stamp out our own damn license plates!

You know, on the name thing, I think this just goes to show that you really can't win, because I could *always* find Jane and it just made me feel so ...ubiquitous! I was quite jealous of the girls whose names were too special for gift shop key rings! Ha.

Enjoy your lovely new hoodie... it's left me with the overpowering urge to knit something red, and soon :)

As for me, I was already snobbish as a kid and found it rather offensive that my name should be written all over hideous breakfast bowls or cheapo leather bracelets at the tourists' joints. Hopefully I don't have to visit them any longer ;--)

That hooded vest looks great on you, you really picked the perfect colour :) I've been thinking of knitting Vivian but was a bit put off by how long the hood would take. But clearly hoods are worth it!

Great cables! Love the color! And I love hoods! So now that I've already used 3 exclamation points, I can move on to a milder mannered phrase or two... I could never find Alison, and when I did, it was always spelled ALLison... In fact, I don't know if I ever ended up with any personalized junk, er, um, swag... Funny thing is, I see Alisons all the time now! Who knew?Gorgeous cozy FO- enjoy the wearing!

I feel your name pain, Heather. I never understood it, either, since there were enough Heathers in my class for my teachers to go along with it when I volunteered Cricket as my alternate name. Go figure. Thanks for posting Honeycomb. I'd inexplicably forgotten about it (!) I love me a vest. I don't wear a hood well, but you're rocking it. Perfect color on you, too.

Come to SF, we have a Heather Street, and I, ahem, have a street sign (retired?). :-D Don't you find it funny when some frantic mom yells Heather in a shop? I automatically turn around feeling "uh-oh". Love the sweater and the color, gorgeous!!